Global variables

The following scenario has me confused. In my main program I have:- <?php $link = ''; .....snip...... ?> in an included function I have <?php function PMConnect() {

    global $dbservertype, $servername, $dbusername, $dbpassword, $dbname, $link;

    $link = mssql_connect("$servername", "$dbusername", "$dbpassword");
    if (!$link) {
        sprintf($Message, "At %d in %s Could not connect to %s at %s as %s",__LINE__, __FILE__, $dbname, $servername, $dbusername);
        trigger_error(E_USER_ERROR, $Message);
        }
    if (!(mssql_select_db("$dbname", $link))) {
        sprintf($Message, "At %d in %s Could not select %s at %s as %s",__LINE__, __FILE__, $dbname, $servername, $dbusername);
        trigger_error(E_USER_ERROR, $Message);
        }
    echo "In PMConnect() link = $link<br>";
    }

?> and here the echo shows that $link contains data but now in another included function I have <?php function GetActive($Datum) {

    global $link;
    echo "In GetActive() link = $link<br>";

.....snip...... this echo shows that $link is empty. NB. All my functions are contained within .inc files that are incorporated via something similar to include('includes/PMConnect.inc'); What am I misunderstanding ? -- Regards, Alf Stockton www.stockton.co.za Man is the only animal that blushes -- or needs to. -- Mark Twain My email disclaimer is available at www.stockton.co.za/disclaimer.html